


We Put Down Roots Here

by bella8876



Series: 30 days of Sterek drabbles [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Magic!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:05:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bella8876/pseuds/bella8876
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A packs connection to its territory is sacred, it’s the place that they call home, the place that they draw their strength, the place that protects them and shelters them.  As long as the wolves care for the land, the land will care for the wolves.</p><p>After the fire when Derek and Laura left Beacon Hills, they left the land, and the land left them.  For the past eight years the territory had been Hale’s in name alone.  But that was going to change, tonight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Put Down Roots Here

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of my 30 Days of Sterek Challenge
> 
> Prompt: "We put down roots here"

Stiles checked the GPS on his phone to make sure he was in the right spot. Not that he needed it, he could feel it in his bones. Stiles had always thought that was a stupid statement before but he got it now. He could literally feel the energy vibrating in his bones, an itch under his skin, a tingle at his fingertips. He was standing dead center in the middle of Hale territory.

“How’s the moon?” Stiles asked without turning around, stripping off his shirt and then his pants.

Derek stepped into the clearing and looked up through the trees. “Almost there,” he answered as he undid his buckle and let his jeans drop. He pulled his shirt off then toed off his shoes and removed his socks and jeans before walking over to Stiles and dropping them on the ground.

“Is everyone else in place?” Stiles asked, finally turning to Derek who nodded. “Ok, then. Let’s do this.” Stiles slid his fingers in the waistband of his boxers, took a deep breath, and pushed them down. He made his way down to the edge of the pond and walked straight in. He could hear Derek behind him stepping out of his own underwear then wading into the water. Stiles kept his eyes straight ahead. 

The magic he was working tonight was serious and required a lot of concentration and though he knew at some point seeing Derek in all his naked glory would become unavoidable, he wanted to put it off for as long as he could. He felt small waves lap against his shoulders and turned around to see Derek treading water behind him. 

“You sure about this?” Stiles asked, spitting as a bit of pond water slipped into his mouth. 

“Are you?” Derek raised his eyebrows, his foot brushing Stiles’s calf. 

“There really is no backing out at this point,” Stiles rolled his eyes trying to break the tension. 

“There really is,” Derek assured him. “You don’t have to do this now.” 

Stiles shook his head. “If we don’t do it tonight we have to wait until next year.” 

“I mean, you don’t have to do this at all Stiles. You know that. I won’t be upset.” Derek brushed his foot against Stiles’s calf again. 

  
“I know,” Stiles’s face softened. “I _want_ to do this Derek. I want to do this for the pack and the town.” He swallowed hard, figuring if there was ever a time for absolute honesty now was it. “I want to do this for you.” 

“Yeah,” Derek whispered, his eyes never leaving Stiles’s. “Ok then. Let’s do this.” 

Stiles nodded, ducking his head until he was completely submerged then surfaced and headed for the shore. Derek copied Stiles then followed him out of the pond. Stiles stopped and crouched down, digging through the black bag he’d brought with him until he emerged with small jar of clear liquid and bag of mountain ash. 

“How are we on time?” Stiles asked when he straightened and they both looked up at the moon. 

“We’ve got a couple of minutes,” Derek assured him and Stiles nodded, moving a bit further into the clearing until he stopped, cricked his neck, flexed his fingers and nodded. He set the jar on the ground and opened the bag of mountain ash, grabbing a handful and letting it slip out of his hand as he walked a circle wide enough for he and Derek to stand in. 

When the circle was almost done he nodded for Derek to join him then closed them in. Stiles grabbed the jar and opened it, coating his fingers in the slick liquid and bringing his hand up to Derek’s temple. Derek’s arm shot out, grabbing his wrist before he could start and stared at him. 

“Last chance to back out,” Derek offered, his thumb brushing against Stiles’s pulse point. 

Stiles shut his eyes, breathing deeply as he thought about everything they’d done to get to this point, all his preparations. He thought about the Willow trees they’d planted over a year and half ago that now surrounded the town. They might have seemed randomly placed to anyone else, but their positions along the Hale territory border had been calculated exactly in relation to the moon and the spot Stiles was standing right now with a very complicated algorithm that Lydia had created and Stiles was sure he’d never fully understand. And that had been the easy part. Actually getting the city to let them plant the trees had been the hard part. Stiles had to create a fake volunteer program, the Beacon Hills Urban Green Initiative or something, and promise the city council it would “ _help promote environmental awareness in an ever growing community”._ It was total bullshit but they let him plant the trees and it looked really good on his college applications. 

He thought about the year of intensive training he’d gone through with Deaton, learning to focus, learning to access his spark. He thought about all the nights and weekends he’d given up, the dates he hadn’t gone on, the parties and dances he didn’t attend. He thought about his father’s face when Stiles had told him he quit lacrosse but couldn’t tell him why. He thought about the acceptance letters to NYU, Boston College, Georgetown, Northwestern and Norte Dame hiding in the back of his closet that he wouldn’t even be able to consider, because once he did this he wouldn’t be able to leave. He could go away for a while, but not too far, and not for too long, so college on the East Coast was out. 

Then he thought about Derek, about his family, about what growing up here must have been like for him. He thought about what the Hale territory used to be, about what it could be again. He thought about everything Derek had lost and everything Stiles could give him back and it was worth it, it was more than worth it. 

“I’m good,” Stiles said and Derek nodded, releasing Stiles’s wrist and dropping his hand back to his side. 

Stiles stepped forward and slid his fingers into Derek’s hair, massaging the oil into Derek’s scalp. He moved to Derek’s temples, then rubbed his thumbs across Derek’s forehead, dropping down his nose and then across his cheekbones. Stiles’s fingers dipped into Derek’s stubble, following his jaw line then ghosting over Derek’s lips. Stiles circled Derek’s ears then went lower, digging his fingertips into the tense muscles of Derek’s neck and shoulders. 

Derek slowly relaxed under Stiles’s ministrations as he moved from each shoulder down his arms, loosing up his muscles, massaging his hands. Derek’s breathing slowed and evened and Stiles gathered more oil and moved to Derek’s chest, fingers dipping along ribs, skating across Derek’s abs. Stiles stopped when he got to Derek’s waist, his hands hovering on Derek’s hips for a second before he looked up and walked around, starting on Derek’s back. Using his thumbs, Stiles pushed into all the knots, working each and every one out as he made his way down, his mind so concentrated on his task he didn’t even notice when his hands glided over Derek’s ass, moved down his thighs and onto his calves. It was a bit tricky after that and Derek had to rest a hand on Stiles’s shoulder so he could get to the soles of Derek’s feet. Stiles got in between each toe then made his way back up Derek’s front, over his knees and up to his hips. 

Stiles looked up then, swallowing hard and Derek’s eyes followed the movement of Stiles’s Adam’s apple as he reached out with one hand, cupping Derek’s balls in his palm briefly before wrapping his long fingers around Derek’s now half hard cock and stroking once, just enough to coat it in oil. Derek stumbled forward at the sensation, his hand grasping Stiles’s hip as tried to catch his breath. 

When Derek could, he let go of Stiles and took a step back. Derek nodded and Stiles held out the jar of oil, forcing himself to stay still as Derek massaged the oil into Stiles’s skin they way he’d done to Derek. It was hard to relax at first but Stiles forced himself, letting Derek’s fingers pull the tension out of him. He concentrated on his breathing. The path of Derek’s fingers down his shoulder blades and over his hips to his ass faded to the background, and by the time Derek got to the inside of Stiles’s thighs then over his dick he’d calmed down enough that he managed not to make a total and complete fool of himself. 

Derek set the jar of oil on the ground when he finished and stood back up to face Stiles. His mouth twitched at the corners a bit and before Stiles could say, “Well that was awkward,” he was interrupted by a beep from his phone. They both looked up at the moon, which was finally directly above them. 

“It’s time,” Stiles said. He held out his right hand palm up and Derek let his claws out, slicing through Stiles’s skin, his jaw clenching as he watched the blood well up and pool in Stiles’s palm. Stiles opened his fingers, letting the blood flow through them and drop to the forest floor before bringing his hand up and laying his palm over Derek’s heart, his fingers splayed out, smearing crimson over Derek’s chest. Stiles nodded and Derek lifted his right hand and sliced his own palm open. He had to concentrate to keep it from healing, letting the blood drip through his fingers and fall ontop of Stiles’s in the dirt before lying his palm over Stiles’s heart. 

Stiles brought his left hand up and laid it over Derek’s, slipping his fingers in between Derek’s fingers and pressing down hard, holding Derek’s hand in place. Derek mimicked him, covering Stiles’s hand with his own. 

As a wolf he’d always felt the pull of the moon. There was no way to describe it to someone who couldn’t feel it. Laura used to say it was like there was an invisible string that went from the moon straight to her belly button. And that was close but it was more than that too. Derek had always thought it felt more like a sort of weightlessness, like the moon was pulling Derek just a little bit off the ground, breaking him free from the earth’s gravitational pull. 

Then Stiles started chanting and everything changed. Derek’s breath hitched and suddenly it was like he was being dragged, not up, but down into the earth. His wolf whined, begging to be free, needing to run away and hadn’t even realized he’d started growling until Stiles dug his fingers into Derek’s chest to get his attention. 

“Don’t fight it,” Stiles panted and Derek realized Stiles was feeling it too, the pull. He stopped then, forcing himself to breath, to let go, and Stiles loosened his fingers. Derek’s hand tightened on top of his, afraid he was going to pull away but Stiles just smiled. 

“Nos deposuisti radices hic,” Stiles said then, his voice clear and calm, nodding at Derek in encouragement who repeated the phrase. The latin fell a bit clumsy from his tongue but Stiles said it didn’t matter, that it wasn’t the words themselves but what they meant. 

_We put down roots here._

Derek closed his eyes and thought of that as he repeated the phrase again, his voice a little stronger this time. This land had always been Hale territory, as far back as anyone in his family could remember, his grandmother used to tell him stories or her ancestors settling here. A packs connection to its territory is sacred, it’s the place that they call home, the place that they draw their strength, the place that protects them and shelters them. As long as the wolves care for the land, the land will care for the wolves.

After the fire when Derek and Laura left Beacon Hills, they left the land, and the land left them. For the past eight years the territory had been Hale’s in name alone. But that was going to change, tonight. 

_We put down roots here._

Derek could feel it already, could feel the energy flow out of him and into the soil. He could feel Stiles across from him, feel it being pulled from him to, feel their energies tangling together before shooting out. He could feel it travel through the trees and across the stream. He could feel it as it reached out and found his betas, each of them positioned between the newly planted trees along the border. He could feel it when everything snapped into place. 

_We put down roots here._

Derek stumbled backwards when the earth released him and Stiles’s hand slipped off of his chest to grab him around the waist and steady him. He could feel the forest in a way he hadn't been able to since he was a child, in a way he didn't even know he'd been missing until now. Stiles was looking down at him, his expression worried, like maybe something had gone wrong and Derek didn’t know how to tell him it was ok, that everything had gone right, so incredibly right. 

So he didn’t say anything at all, instead he leaned forward, crashing their lips together in a bruising kiss. Stiles’s grip tightened on Derek’s hips as he pushed back, because he always pushed back, even when Derek didn’t want him to. _Especially_ when Derek didn’t want him to. He poured everything he had into the kiss. Everything he couldn’t say, everything he was afraid he couldn’t feel and Stiles just gave it right back to him. 

Five howls tore the silence breaking the moment and Derek reluctantly pulled away, turning in the direction they had come from. 

.  
"It's ok, go". Stiles nodded off to the trees and Derek felt the ripple of the change under his skin before he'd even made a conscious decision to transform. He’d tried before, to shift full wolf but it had been so painful and something was always holding him back. This time it was effortless. One second a man, the next a wolf. 

"Run" Stiles said and it never ceased to amaze Derek how Stiles seemed to know exactly what he needed before Derek did. Because he did need to run now. Needed to find his pack. Needed to cover every inch of his land, to feel it under him, to smell it, to taste it. But he hesitated. Looking back at Stiles with a whine.  
  
“It's ok" Stiles said again, coming up and sliding a hand into the fur at Derek's neck. “I’ll be here when you get back,” Stiles scratched his ear before crouching down and breaking the mountain ash circle. “My parts not done anyway. I’ve still got one thing left to do.” 

Derek stuck his nose in Stiles’s neck and Stiles tilted his head, bearing his throat to the Alpha and he whined before clasping his jaws around it lightly. “Yeah yeah. Go howl at the moon and pee on trees.” Derek growled playfully at him then turned and ran into the woods. 

Stiles watched Derek until he was too deep in the trees for the moon to even find him then turned back to his task. He crouched down to the ground, finding the pool of his and Derek’s blood and brushing the leaves and dirt out of the way until he saw it, a small green shoot, pushing its way out of the ground through the blood, straining to reach up to the moon. “Let’s see if we can give you a hand.” 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The sun was rising by the time Derek made it back to the clearing. He’d sent the others back to the house a few hours before, bone tired and exhausted, yet exhilarated. Their connection was stronger than it had ever been and they’d all felt it, running through the trees so fluidly it was like they were a part of the forest, because in a way now they were. 

He stopped when he broke through the tree line. Stiles was curled up asleep. He’d gotten dressed at some point, his hoodie pulled tight across his chest to ward off the early morning chill. But it was the enormous Weeping Willow that he was sleeping under that gave Derek pause. A tree that Derek knew for a fact hadn’t been there less than 6 hours before because he’d been standing in that exact spot. 

He walked cautiously over to it, running his fingers through the cascading leaves. When he was close enough to see it properly his breath caught in his throat. Twisting through the bark of the trunk and exploding outward to the hanging branches, Derek could see his family, his pack, their history. There was nothing to identify them, no names carved in the wood, just symbols and lines that knew represented his story, _their_ story. He brought a shaky hand up and traced his fingers through the lines, following them around, feeling where they intersected and where they branched off. 

He heard Stiles stir behind him but couldn’t tear his eyes away. “You grew a tree,” Derek said, a little more breathlessly than he’d intended. 

“Well to be fair, the tree did most of the growing,” Stiles yawned. “I just helped it along.” He moved up beside Derek and leaned against a low hanging branch. “There’s a lot of excess energy after a ritual like that. It had to go somewhere. I just thought…” Stiles trailed off and Derek dropped his hand stepping back to take the whole thing in. 

He saw his past in the tree, but more importantly he saw his future there too. Lazy summer days swimming in the pond and napping under the branches. Kids climbing and hanging off it, racing each other to the top. And it would keep growing as the pack grew. Maybe they’d add a tire swing, or build a tree house. Maybe they wouldn’t. 

“We put down roots here,” Derek said glancing at Stiles who smiled up at him, his eyes still soft with sleep before reaching forward and kissing him gently. 

“Yeah, we did.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my[Tumblr](http://www.bella8876.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Sometimes we have brownies.


End file.
